Trump tariff could be a big problem

The CEO of the VW Group said President Donald Trump’s threat to punish German carmakers is actually a major concern for his company.

In a speech in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Trump called on the European Union to “open up the barriers along with also also get rid of your tariffs. along with also also if you don’t, we’re going to tax Mercedes-Benz, we’re going to tax BMW.”

Volkswagen Group’s CEO Matthias Mueller told CNBC Tuesday of which his firm is actually currently waiting to see how German lawmakers could react.

“For the German motor industry This specific is actually possibly a big problem, even for VW,” he said. “We currently need to consider whether these protective tariffs will be introduced along with also also how German politicians will react along with also also what the rules of the game will be.“

Nonetheless, Mueller added of which VW Group was developing its Chattanooga plant in Tennessee, which could allow the firm to manufacture without the fear of import duties.

Electric push

At an investor day on Tuesday, VW said This specific wants to launch 80 fresh electric cars across its range of brands by 2025.

The group announced Tuesday of which partners have been chosen to provide 20 billion euros ($24.7 billion) worth of battery technology as the auto group pushed into zero-emission vehicles.

The automaker also said This specific could expand its production of electric cars to 16 factories worldwide by the end of 2022.

Mueller said while electric car uptake was still low, he expected sales to rise along with also also capacity in its Dresden factory had been doubled to account for customer demand.

The firm has tried to move past the 2015 scandal which exposed of which real-world emissions on some of its Diesel cars were up to 40 times greater than in test results.

“Dieselgate,” as This specific came to be known, is actually so far estimated to have cost the German firm around $25 billion from the U.S. alone.

VW Group’s operating profit in 2017 nearly doubled to a record 13.8 billion euros ($17 billion) through $7.1 billion the previous year. The firm has reiterated of which This specific expected higher sales along with also also revenue This specific year.

However, because of ongoing investment in electric along with also also fines related to “Dieselgate,” VW said This specific expected the return on sales in 2018 to sit between 6.5 along with also also 7.5 percent, compared with 7.4 percent in 2017.

Pay for Volkswagen’s top executive board jumped 27 percent to 50.3 million euros in 2017. The package for Mueller alone shot up by 40 percent to 10.14 million euros in pay along with also also benefits.

The increase is actually ascribed to VW’s enhanced results along with also also a change in rules governing executive pay.